One in three people would visit restaurants more often if they served a range of British craft beer, new independent research for the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has revealed.

The survey of 1,000 consumers was conducted by BigHospitality's sister publication MCA​ on behalf of the organisation.

SIBA says that despite the growth in the popularity of craft beer the majority of restaurants in the UK are not meeting the consumer demand.

The organisation said it would like to set up meetings with small and large restaurant chains to offer them help to stock craft beer.

SIBA is also encouraging its brewing members to use the research to open doors with their own local, independent restaurants.

Restaurants already championing British craft beers include Purecraft Bar & Kitchen, which opened its second site in Nottingham​ earlier this month and Living Ventures and Aiden Byrne's Manchester restaurant Manchester House where it has a dedicated beer menu designed to match with its dishes.

Growing popularity ​

Nick Stafford, SIBA operations director, said: “Craft-­brewed beer is growing in popularity across the UK and the restaurants which have recognised this and started to serve a range of interesting, flavoursome beers have thrived.

“Unfortunately though most restaurants don’t put in the same effort when it comes to beer as they do when selecting their wine list, something our new research suggests could be seriously damaging their commercial potential.”

SIBA currently represents more than 850 independent brewers, who produce in excess of 5,000 different beers. SIBA’s ‘BeerFlex’ service is already used by many of the large pubcos to supply their pubs with independently brewed craft beer from SIBA members.

“Craft­-brewed, canned beer generally comes in smaller 330ml cans, which can be stacked, fit neatly in fridges and get cool quickly ­ making them the perfect choice for restaurants who want to serve beer but don’t have the space or expertise to look after draught beer lines,” added Stafford.